It’s primary season. As Americans hit the polls this winter and spring, one issue stands out for young voters: student loans.
More than half of voters age 18 to 34 say a candidate’s plan for fighting student debt will be a “major influencer” in deciding whom to vote for in November. That’s according to a December 2015 poll by Young Invincibles, a national, nonpartisan nonprofit focused on engaging young adults in political issues.
“Lots of different issues matter to millennials, but I think what we’ll see driving them to the polls are those pocketbook issues,” says Colin Seeberger, strategic campaigns advisor for Young Invincibles.
Many candidates’ higher education proposals will affect future college students more than current students or grads. But voters with existing debt would be wise to pay attention in case they need additional financial aid for grad school, says Robert Kelchen, assistant professor of higher education at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.
Under the next president, borrowers may also have the opportunity to sign up for a new student loan repayment plan or refinance student loans through the federal government (refinancing is currently only available through private companies and some states).
How our guide can help
To catch you up on the major candidates’ ideas, we’ve distilled their higher education proposals down to the basics. We included the top five Republican candidates based on the Real Clear Politics aggregate poll for the Republican presidential nomination. The Democratic and Republican candidates are listed in order based on their standing in the Real Clear Politics aggregate polls as of Feb. 4, 2016.
Click on the links below to jump to a particular candidate, or scroll to read about all of the candidates’ proposals.
Note: For the candidates who had released comprehensive higher education plans as of Feb. 4, we included links to those plans. Some candidates hadn’t released such plans; in those cases, we included a link to a relevant news article.
| Hillary Clinton (D) | Donald Trump (R) | Marco Rubio (R) | Jeb Bush (R) |
| Bernie Sanders (D) | Ted Cruz (R) | Ben Carson (R) |
Hillary Clinton
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Supports:
In her own words: “We need to make a quality education affordable and available to everyone willing to work for it without saddling them with decades of debt.” (College affordability speech, Aug. 10, 2015) |
Quick take: Former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the government shouldn’t profit from federal student loans, so she supports keeping interest rates on them low. She also wants students to be able to attend four-year public college without taking on debt. To achieve that, Clinton is proposing that states work with colleges to cut costs and award need-based grant money, and that students and parents contribute what they can afford. She would pay for her plan by closing tax loopholes for the wealthy.
Read more: Clinton’s higher education plan, “The New College Compact”
Nerd Tip
Bernie Sanders
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Supports:
In his own words: “We should look at college today the way high school was looked at 60 years ago. All young people who have the ability should be able to get a college education.” (Democratic debate, Dec. 19, 2015) |
Quick take: Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, was the first 2016 presidential candidate to come out with a comprehensive higher education plan. The College for All Act, which he introduced in the Senate in May 2015, would make public colleges and universities tuition-free thanks to a tax on certain stock, bond and derivatives trades. His policies have attracted support from young voters, though critics question the feasibility of his $70 billion plan.
Read more: Sanders’ higher education plan
Nerd Tip
Donald Trump
| Donald Trump (R) |
Supports:
In his own words: “That’s probably one of the only things the government shouldn’t make money off — I think it’s terrible that one of the only profit centers we have is student loans.” (The Hill, July 23, 2015) |
Ted Cruz
| Ted Cruz (R) |
Supports:
In his own words: “Economic growth is critical to young people because if we want this generation to be able to pay off their loans and develop the skills to live the American dream, we’ve got to return to an environment where small businesses are growing and flourishing, and creating jobs and opportunities.” (Interview with theSkimm, Aug. 4, 2015) |
Quick take: Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, hasn’t proposed a specific higher education plan or campaigned much on education issues. But he supports dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, which funds grants, subsidized loans and work-study programs, in favor of giving states more decision-making power. He’s mentioned that he recently paid off his own student loans; in 2014 he voted against letting borrowers refinance their federal loans with the government.
Read more: Cruz’s Five for Freedom plan, which includes abolishing the Department of Education
Nerd Tip
Marco Rubio
| Marco Rubio (R) |
Supports:
In his own words: “For the life of me, I don’t know why we have stigmatized vocational education.” (Republican debate, Nov. 10, 2015) |
Quick take: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida proposes a “modernized” higher education system where students have more access to alternative education programs, including online courses, and students can fund college tuition through institutional investors instead of student loans. Rubio also wants to make data including graduation rates, student debt and salary information easily available online so students can use it to make smart decisions about their higher education plans. Like Cruz, he would abolish the Department of Education, which funds grants, subsidized loans and work-study programs. He supports allowing borrowers with existing student debt to make payments based on how much they earn.
Read more: Rubio’s higher education reform plan
Ben Carson
| Ben Carson (R) |
Supports:
In his own words: “I actually have something I would use the Department of Education for. It would be to monitor our institutions of higher education for extreme political bias and deny federal funding if it exists.” (Interview with Glenn Beck, Oct. 21, 2015) |
Quick take: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson says he wants the U.S. Department of Education to “get out of the lending business.” He wants the student loan market to be run completely by private companies and says he’d use the Department of Education to investigate political bias within colleges.
Jeb Bush
| Jeb Bush (R) |
Supports:
In his own words: “We don’t need the federal government to be involved in (financing higher education), because when they do we create a $1.2 trillion debt.” (Republican debate, Oct. 28, 2015) |
Quick take: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush proposes to overhaul the current federal student loan system. He wants to replace 529 college savings accounts with Education Savings Accounts that state and local governments, charities, employers and parents could pay into. Through those accounts, high school graduates would have access to a $50,000 line of credit they could use for college tuition. Students would repay their debt through federal income taxes, contributing 1% of their income for every $10,000 they borrow.
Read more: Bush’s education reform plan
NerdWallet’s financial aid resources:
Teddy Nykiel is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: teddy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @teddynykiel.
Brianna McGurran is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: bmcgurran@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @briannamcscribe.
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